Town of Southampton: Historic Resources Survey Posted on Town Website

Town of Southampton

Town-wide Historic Resources Survey Posted on Town WebsiteThe public can access the AKRF study, which includes nearly 1,000 historic properties.

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The Town of Southampton has made available on the town’s website the results of a two-year study of the town’s abundance of historic resources. The Park Avenue, New York, consulting firm, AKRF, completed the survey last summer at the town’s request. The Southampton Landmarks & Historic Districts Board also contributed to the effort.

“As we commemorate our town’s 375th Anniversary, it’s fitting that this report be made available to the public. Every resident of Southampton deserves the opportunity to share and celebrate not only the town’s — but their individual hamlet’s — rich architectural history,” said Councilwoman Bridget Fleming.

Architectural historian Jacqueline Peu-Duvalion of Historic Preservation Consulting worked with AKRF in documenting 992 historic properties located throughout 15 hamlets of Southampton, the unincorporated portions of Sag Harbor and Sagaponack, and other distinct areas. Incorporated villages and the reservation of the Shinnecock Indian Nation were not included in the survey area.

“As one of the earliest settled towns in North America, with a rich cultural and architectural history unlike that of any other part of the state or region, the Town of Southampton possesses a unique and irreplaceable built heritage worthy of careful study and management,” according to the introduction of the Southampton Historic Resources Survey.

The initial chapter also explains the methodology and criteria that was used, while the second chapter summarizes the survey’s results. The rest of the report is organized by hamlet. Each chapter includes a brief historic context for the hamlet and a summary of the potential landmarks and historic districts identified. Maps show the locations of the historic resources and individual photographs depict landmark eligible properties. Each chapter concludes with a table of the recommended potential landmarks, and an index of properties deserving further analysis.

“It is important to note that not all areas were as thoroughly documented as others, but the survey, overall, is an excellent resource that the town has never had before and which can be built upon in the future,” according to Sally Spanburgh, chair of the Landmarks & Historic Districts Board.

You can find the Southampton Historic Resources Survey (AKRF, 2014) on the Landmarks & Historic Districts Board page of the Town of Southampton’s website or just paste the following link into your browser: http://www.southamptontownny.gov/390/Historical-Studies-Reports.

With the most recent designation of the Dunbar House in Flanders, the number of Town Landmarks totals 22. If you are interested in pursuing a Town Landmark designation for a historic structure, contact Sally Spanburgh, chair of the Landmarks & Historic Districts Board, at 631-702-1801 or sspanburgh@southamptontownny.gov.